Tweet
SHANGHAI (AP) — Olympic and world champion Cesar Cielo was cleared to compete at the world championships Thursday after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a decision by the Brazilian swimming federation.
Swimming governing body FINA had challenged a Brazilian federation decision to give Cielo only a warning after he tested positive for furosemide, a banned diuretic and masking agent, at a meet in Rio de Janeiro in May.
Cielo said he consumed the drug in a contaminated batch of a food supplement he regularly used.
"He's obviously happy about it and is looking forward to competing at worlds," Cielo's Los Angeles lawyer, Howard Jacobs, told The Associated Press. "It wasn't just FINA that wanted this case expedited — he also needed to agree for an expedited trial and he wanted it to be cleared up so he could compete and have no questions."
Decisions for two other Brazilian swimmers — Nicholas Santos and Henrique Barbosa — were also upheld, while the CAS gave Vinicius Waked, who had previously served a two-month ban for a separate doping offense, a one-year ban.
FINA had appealed for three-month bans for Cielo, Santos and Barbosa; and requested a one-year ban for Waked.
"I respect the decision of the CAS — they are the last legal resort in sports," FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu told The AP. "I'm not satisfied but I think we have done our job."
The CAS panel was specially assembled in Shanghai to deliver a verdict before Cielo is scheduled to compete in the freestyle relay Sunday.
"The arbitrators agreed there was no intent to cheat and no performance enhancing. They accepted the explanation that the supplements were contaminated," Jacobs said, adding that the physician who prescribed the caffeine pills testified during the CAS hearing.
"It's good now that the arbitrators can distinguish from case to case when an athlete tries to cheat or not," Jacobs said.
Cielo is also hoping to defend his world titles in the 50 and 100 free, plus he is entered in the 50 butterfly. He trained at the Oriental Sports Center earlier Thursday.
All four swimmers attended Wednesday's hearing at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, although only Cielo has qualified to compete at the worlds.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials
Swimming governing body FINA had challenged a Brazilian federation decision to give Cielo only a warning after he tested positive for furosemide, a banned diuretic and masking agent, at a meet in Rio de Janeiro in May.
Cielo said he consumed the drug in a contaminated batch of a food supplement he regularly used.
"He's obviously happy about it and is looking forward to competing at worlds," Cielo's Los Angeles lawyer, Howard Jacobs, told The Associated Press. "It wasn't just FINA that wanted this case expedited — he also needed to agree for an expedited trial and he wanted it to be cleared up so he could compete and have no questions."
Decisions for two other Brazilian swimmers — Nicholas Santos and Henrique Barbosa — were also upheld, while the CAS gave Vinicius Waked, who had previously served a two-month ban for a separate doping offense, a one-year ban.
FINA had appealed for three-month bans for Cielo, Santos and Barbosa; and requested a one-year ban for Waked.
"I respect the decision of the CAS — they are the last legal resort in sports," FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu told The AP. "I'm not satisfied but I think we have done our job."
The CAS panel was specially assembled in Shanghai to deliver a verdict before Cielo is scheduled to compete in the freestyle relay Sunday.
"The arbitrators agreed there was no intent to cheat and no performance enhancing. They accepted the explanation that the supplements were contaminated," Jacobs said, adding that the physician who prescribed the caffeine pills testified during the CAS hearing.
"It's good now that the arbitrators can distinguish from case to case when an athlete tries to cheat or not," Jacobs said.
Cielo is also hoping to defend his world titles in the 50 and 100 free, plus he is entered in the 50 butterfly. He trained at the Oriental Sports Center earlier Thursday.
All four swimmers attended Wednesday's hearing at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, although only Cielo has qualified to compete at the worlds.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials
